incapable of acting except in times of crises. it's just likethefiscalcliffrightnow. this was designed to force congress to deal with the deficit. now senate majority leader harry reid is proposing changes to the filibuster that might make senate lesseesy. right now senators can block motions to proceed which means the senate can't even debate the legislation in question. president obama realizing the stakes for his second term agenda endorsed those changes on tuesday. white house communications director dan pfeiffer said in a state, the president supports sen tor reid's reform the filibuster. he has a chance to change the filibuster with a 51% majority. he is getting close to getting that majority. republicans, meanwhile, are apoplectic. mitch mcconnell has accused reid of throwing a bomb into the senate. john boehner said he will block it if the filibuster is curtailed. all right. let's start at the most basic principle level. before we get into the weeds of senate procedure and the current reform rules on the table, i would like to put forth the proposition that the filibuster itsel